Two days after a Dalit family was set ablaze killing two children and critically injuring their mother, members of the Dalit community in Sunperh and its adjoining areas refused to mourn any further and rather pledged to mobilise themselves to fight caste oppression. The move was clearly meant as a stern message to the majority Rajput community of the village in case the situation worsens.
As the women remained with Jitender, the father of the deceased who suffered minor burns in his hands during the incident, the men assembled a few steps away from his residence in the village’s common shed. A local Dalit leader stood up and proclaimed that this case was the “final nail in the coffin.” The speakers directed the Dalits to use social media to expose acts of exploitation.
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“Our women and men have always remained quiet as they fear they would lose their livelihood or will be made social outcasts. But this is the time to unite and fight,” said Raghubir Singh, who came from a nearby village.
There were several Dalit workers of the BJP and the BSP in the gathering who claimed the cause was beyond their political inclination. “The Haryana CM is an RSS worker and so is the Prime Minister. Where do people like us go if these leaders say that the RSS is their mother and not the country?” asked Khemchand Dabla, State secretary of the All India Confederation of SCs and STs, led by BJP MP from Delhi Udit Raj.
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